10 Tips to Save Money Right Now

Does the idea of saving money seem a bit overwhelming at first? If so, you are not alone. Many people struggle with finding ways to save money. Imagine what your daily life would look like if you did not have to worry about living paycheck to paycheck. Saving money is not as hard as it seems. Thankfully, there are some easy ways you can start saving money today.

Get Rid of Debt

Monthly debt payments are one of the biggest tie-ups for your money. Not only do you lose cash-flow by having a monthly payment, but the longer you make payments, the more interest you owe and the more money you will end up spending. A great method for eliminating debt is what is known as the snowball method, where you pay off debts in order of smallest to largest. Once you have started paying off some debts, use the freed-up cash to pay off your larger debts faster. Once you have paid off debts, you will find it is so much easier to save money.

Save on Groceries

There are a ton of different ways that you can save money while grocery shopping! This is one of the easiest places to save money. There is usually an abundance of grocery coupons out there for you to use. Planning out your meals and making detailed shopping lists will help you save money on groceries as well.

Cancel Automatic Subscriptions and Memberships

Recurring payments for memberships and subscriptions that automatically pull from your checking account probably cost you quite a bit of money. How many things are you subscribed to? The price of an average subscription is usually around $10, so it may not seem like a lot at first, but all of those subscriptions add up, and it can be quite a bit. Go through your most recent monthly bank statement and identify all recurring charges. Go through these and determine which subscriptions or memberships you can go without. You might even find that you have been paying for things you don’t even use! Managing your subscriptions and memberships is one easy way you can save some money each month.

Buy Generic Products

Buying generic products will save you tons of money. Most of the time, the only difference is the name of the product. This is especially true for cleaning supplies, staple foods like rice and beans and is always the case for medication. You end up paying so much more for name-brand products because of the marketing and branding that goes into them. Except for a few name-brand items that you may not be able to replace, you should buy all generic products.

Automatically Save Money

Did you know that you can save money without even thinking about it? Most banks offer the ability to transfer money into your savings account automatically. Some banks even offer the option to transfer $1 every time you make a purchase with your debit card. If you have direct deposit set up for your paychecks, you may have the option to transfer a portion of your paycheck into your savings account automatically. Setting up automatic transfers to your savings account will help you save money without even thinking about it.

Spend Extra Cash Wisely

If you are struggling to save money and come into some extra money, you need to use it wisely. If you have any debt, the best thing you can do is use the extra money to pay down debt. If you don’t have any debt, put the money in your emergency fund, or invest it. Use the extra money to increase cash flow every month rather than storing it in your savings account.

Cut Your Energy Bill

One easy way you can save money is to cut down on your energy bill. This may sound difficult at first, but with a few easy changes, you can be saving a few extra dollars every month! You can and should be doing easy things like turning off lights when you’re not using them, turning off the heat or air conditioning when you are away, and taking shorter showers. Many simple things will save you money on your energy bill each month.

Pack Your Lunch

Packing your lunch for work could save you tons of money. Do you actually know how much you spend eating out for lunch during the week? Save your receipts for a week and add them up; you will likely be surprised at how much money you are spending on food. Also, planning meals will help you save money at the grocery store!

Skip the Café

As with eating out for lunch, how much money do you spend on your morning coffee? If you are going to a café on your way to work each day, you’re probably spending between $5-$10. If you brew your own coffee at home, you’re probably spending less than a dollar per cup.

Sell Everything You Don’t Need

Selling your unused and unneeded items will give you a nice chunk of extra money and will help you declutter in the process! There are tons of places you can sell your things; try using social media, digital classified ads, and even local resale stores. If you want, you may even consider having a garage sale and getting together with some of your neighbors to do it. Freeing up extra money is easy if you can sell things you no longer use.